Mattress



Oct. 18, 1932.

L. E. PITTONl 1,882,876

MATTRESS Filed Aug. 25. 1930 IN V EN TOR. lows [ZP/ fro/w.

Patented Oct. 18, 1932 teeters UNITED STATES Paras FF'ECE LOUIS E. PITTONI, OF JAMAICA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOIK TO THE ROME COMPANY, INC.,

OF ROME, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK MATTRESS Application filed August 25, 1930. Serial No. 477,497.

My present invention relates to the manufacture of mattresses and similar articles of the type in which a suitable filling material, such asfelt, curled hair, or cotton, is held in position'within a ticking or cover by tufting cords, which extend vertically through the filling material and cover at spaced points and are normally held in that position by tufts or tufting members arranged on the cover, thereby preventing the ends of the cords from tearing through the cover when in use.

It has been the usual practice heretofore to connect such tufting cords, preferably in loop form, to the tufts on' the outer surfaces of the cover by looping the cords about the tufts. Various types of tufts have been devised for this work, but none have proved to be entirely satisfactory or given satisfaction commensurate with their cost of production and installation. Common arrangements are to loop the outer ends of the tufting cords over washers of leather or felt, bunches of fibers or balls of yarn. Such arrangements have proved unsatisfactory because such tufts frequently become disconnected and lost when the cords become slack during use and also because of the tendency of dust and dirt to gather under the tufts and thereby render the cover unsightly and unsanitary.

Tufts have also been formed by metallic gromet or eyelet members, arranged to extend through openings formed in the upper and lower cover members and to which the tufting cords are connected. Such arrangements are disadvantageous because the cord stresses in use must be borne by the already weakened portions of the cover immediately adjacentthe tuft openings. These stresses frequently cause the openings to become enlarged and the tufts to be pulled inside the cover. In many cases, either because of the particular construction or disarrangement of the tufts these members can be felt through here E arraiwed at correspondin oints on b V 33 the bedding with consequent discomfort to the user.

The object of my present invention is the provision of an improved mattress construction which is characterized by tufting members which will remain fixed in position under substantially all conditions of use; which do not require corresponding openings in the cover members; which reinforce, and dis tribute the stresses thereon to, a substantial portion of the cover; whichenhance the appearance of the mattress; and which can be efliciently and economically applied;

The various features of novelty which characterize my invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of'the invention, how ever, and the advantages possessed by itreference should be had to the accompanying drawing and descriptive matter in which I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Of the drawing Fig. 1 is a plan view of a mattress incorporating my invention;

Fig. 2 is av section on the line 22 of Fig.1;

3 isa plan view of one corner of the mattress on a larger scale showing the tufting member in an incomplete form; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view ofthe mattress portion shown in Fig. 3 with the tufting member completed.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawing, A designates a mattress provided with a cover or ticking B enclosing a suitable filling material C in a well known manner. Tufting cords D of the usual character are adapted to be inserted through the filling material C and upper and lower members of the cover B and B respec tively, at points distributed over the mattress and to be connected to tufts or tufting memthe tuft is completed.

the cover members and constructed in a manner hereinafter described.

In accordance with my invention, each of the tufting members is formed by one or more strands E of a thick thread, preferably embroidery silk, arranged on the cover as a group of stitches. These stitches are preferably parallel, closely spaced, and longer than the width of the group, as shown in Fig. 3. In this operation no contraction of the fabric is effected and each stitch is preferably formed with a single loop exposed on the outer side of the fabric and with a short connecting portion to the adjacent stitch underneath.

hen a sufiicient number of the stitches have been made, the free end of the strand, designated by E is repeatedly looped around the intermediate portions to bind them together in a substantially butterfly formation, as shown in Fig. 4. The free end of the strand is then passed through the fabric and The relatively soft character of the strand material used and the arrangement of the binding portion in a fiat loop forms a tuft which projects only a slight distance above the surface of the cover and which cannot cause any discomfort to the user of the mattress. The embroidery strand employed is preferably of a color harmonizing with the color or design of the mattress cover and enhances rather than detracts from the appearance of the fabric, particularly when the resulting configuration is of a more or less ornamental nature.

In commercial practice, the tufts can be applied by passing a fabric strip from a roll of the desired width through gang sewing machines of a type suitable for suchwork to simultaneously form a number of tufts at an extremely low cost of manufacture.

With the cover members B and B arranged with corresponding tufts in vertical ali nment and the filling material in position, the tufting cords D, respectively in loop form are passed through the mattress and over the bunched portions of each pair of tufts. The free ends of the cord are then connected in the usual manner. Similar operations are performed for each pair of tuft members until the tuftin operation is completed.

The arrangement of the end portions of the tufting cords in parallel with the looped portions of the strand free end is advantageous as the cord works itself down between adjacent looped portions and is substantially concealed therein. By the present tuft construction, the stresses on the tufts, exerted by the tnfting cords, are transmitted to a substantialportion of the cover member area surrounding the points where the tufting cords pass through the fabric. The described connection of'the tufts with the fabric avoids any possibility of the tufts being worked loose in use or of the fabric being torn at this point.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes, I have illustrated and described the best form of embodiment of my invention now known to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the form of the device disclosed without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims and that in some cases certain features of my invention may be used to advantage without a corresponding use of other features.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A mattress having upper and lower cover members, a filling material arranged therebetween, and tuftingmeans for holding said filling material in position and comprising a strand of material arranged to form a group of adjacent reinforcing stitches at a predetermined point on the outer side of one of said cover members, and a tufting cord extending through said filling material and covermembers and looped about said stitches.

2. A mattress having upper and lower cover members, a filling material arranged therebetween, and tufting means for holding said filling material in position and compris ing a strand of materialarranged to form a group of rela vively long and parallel reinforcing stitches at a predetermined point on the outer side of one of said cover members, and a tufting cord extending through said filling material and cover members and looped about anintermediate portion of said stitches.

3. A mattress having upper and lower fabric cover members, a filling material ar-' ranged therebetween, and tufting means for holding said filling material in position and comprising a strand of material arranged to form a group of reinforcing stitches adjacent one another at a predetermined point on the outer side of one of said cover members, the free end of said strand being wrapped around said stitches in a flat loop at said predetermined point, and a tufting cord extending through said filling material and cover members and looped about the bunched portion. of said stitches.

4. A mattress having upper and lower fabric cover members, a filling material arranged therebetween, and tufting means for holding said filling material in position com: prising a group of relatively long stitches on one of said cover members, means for bunching said stitches together at a point intermediate their length, and a tufting cord extending through said filling material and cover members and looped about said stitches at said intermediate point.

5. A mattress having upper and lower fabric cover members, a filling material arranged therebetween, and tufting means for holding said filling material in position and comprising a group of relatively long stitches secured to and reinforcing a predetermined area of one of said cover members, said stitches being interconnected in a butterfly formation, and at-ufting cord extending through said filling material and cover members and looped about an intermediate portion of said reinforcing stitches.

Signed at Long Island City, in the county of Queens and State of New York, this 21st day of August, A. D. 1980.

LOUIS E. PITTONI. 

